Namibia’s
Wilderness’ Wilderness
By Marianne Gray • Pictures by Libby Robb
domestic landing strips but
mainly people drive. The roads
are not trivial, sometimes
scarcely visible gravel or
chassis-shattering corrugated
rocks. Four-wheel drive Land
Cruisers, extra water, food,
spare tyres and a tow-rope are
essentials. Especially the tow-
rope.
T
hey told us at breakfast
that an elephant had
strolled through the
Palmwag Camp, nibbled at
our thatched roof, eaten
some green leaves off the
plants in the garden and
then wandered round to the
camping site where
somebody woke up to find
an elephant’s trunk blowing
in her ear and a steaming
pile of fresh dung quite
close to her sleeping-bag.
The elephant, one of a large
herd, was apparently called
In-House Ellie and came by,
with friends, most nights.
That’s what life off-grid is like
when you go to Namibia’s
fascinating wilderness in the
remote north, an undisturbed
place where people can listen
to the quiet, see life as it was,
glimpse a scattering of locals,
mainly semi-nomadic Himbas
living as they did hundreds of
years ago. And see game!
Namibia is a huge country. It
was a German colony from
1884 to 1914. In the decades
that followed to independence
in 1990, it was administered
by South Africa. It has a
population of
2.6m and is almost two
countries, with the capital
Windhoek dividing the country.
In the south are all familiar
places like Swakopmund and
Walvis Bay, Luderitz,
Kolmanskop where old colonial
German houses sink under
sand-dunes. The coastal Namib
desert with its massive dunes is
considered to be the oldest
desert in the world and spreads
south to
Oranjemund at
the mouth of
the Orange River
and South
Africa.
North of
Windhoek is the
age-old game
reserve Etosha,
Damaraland,
Caprivi, many
private game
reserves and the
captivating
Skeleton Coast with its desert
elephants and lions and
shipwrecks rusting in the
roaring winds and rough Atlantic
sea. And Kaokoland, one of the
most elusive regions of Africa.
For a long time nobody knew
much about Kaokoland. Getting
there presents a challenge for
starters. There are little
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THE LONDON & UK DATEBOOK
We had to cross
three rivers at one
point, two were dry
as old bones but
the third coursed
with water from
sudden,
exceptional
summer rainfall
which meant we
needed to wait
for another
vehicle to pass
so if we got
stuck, they could pull us
out. We waited and waited,
many hours, before
anybody passed us.
Eventually they didn’t have
to tow us out but they said
they’d once spent three
days sleeping under a tree
waiting for a passing
vehicle to help them out.
Kaokoland is a place you need
to visit if you have
an interest in an
incredible,
untamed
environment
where lions,
rhinos and
giraffes roam
and herds of
springbok,
gemsbok and
ostriches move
with cattle and
goats in search
of grazing.
The locals are desert-
adapted nomads, the
fascinating Himbas, current
population 50 000 and
probably the last semi-
nomadic rural people living
traditionally. And some
Hereros also live there,
once a huge strong tribe
who battled the Germans
for territory. The women
still wear long dresses
with petticoats like the
missionary’s wives used to.
Tourists haven’t really got to
Kaokoland yet but tours are
starting. Campsites are
springing up, along with
environmentally-sound lodges.
Word is getting around. Starkly
beautiful, breath-taking
destinations as far out of reach
as it gets are there.
To sit of an evening quietly
around a barbeque in this
magical world, one can simply
forget that there is an urgent
modern world somewhere out
there in the darkness beyond
the stars.
namibiatourism.com.na
houseonthehillnam.com